Two Chinese nationals have been accused of smuggling a fungus into the US that officials describe as a "dangerous biological pathogen".
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods, false statements, and visa fraud, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced on Tuesday.
The complaint alleges Mr Liu tried to smuggle the fungus through Detroit airport so he could study it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend, Ms Jian, worked.
The fungus called Fusarium graminearum can cause a disease in wheat, barley, maize and rice that can wipe out crops and lead to vomiting and liver damage if it gets into food.
The fungus is described in scientific literature as a "potential agroterrorism weapon", according to the US Attorney's Office, adding it is responsible for "billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year."
Officials further allege Ms Jian received funding from the Chinese government for her research on the pathogen in China. They also claim she is a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
United States Attorney Jerome F Gorgon Jr described the allegations as of the "gravest national security concerns".
"These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a 'potential agroterrorism weapon' into in the [sic] heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme."
The investigation was a joint effort between the FBI and US Customs and Border Protection.
Ms Jian is due to appear in court in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday.
The BBC has reached out to the University of Michigan and the Chinese embassy in Washington DC for comment.
So, here is the summary after going through the flight data:
There was a VVIP presentation at Area 51, likely related to the Boeing F-47 or the NGAD project in general, on Sunday, 6/1/2025 between 8:10am and 9:30am. VVIPs present were SECDEF Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Caine on their way back to DC from the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on 5/30/25. They landed at Nellis AFB and boarded Area 51 commuter shuttle aircraft to Area 51.
--- Details by personnel involved ---
SECDEF Pete Hegseth ------------------- 7:20am arrived at Nellis AFB from Singapore with TITAN29 8:10am arrived at Area 51 with JANET01 10:05am arrived back at Nellis AFB with JANET01 10:34am departed Nellis AFB to Andrews AFB, Washington DC without tracking
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Caine ---------------------------------------------------- 5:50am arrived at Nellis AFB from Singapore with SAM699 8:06am arrived at Area 51 with JANET10 9:58am arrived at Nellis AFB with JANET09 10:34am departed Nellis AFB to Andrews AFB, Washington DC with SAM699
Support and/or security personnel from DC ----------------------------------------- 5:30pm (Sat 5/31) arrived at Nellis AFB from Andrews AFB, Washington DC 8:00am arrived at Area 51 with JANET09 12:25pm arrived at Nellis AFB with JANET10 1:30pm departed Nellis AFB back to Andrews AFB, Washington DC
Personnel from Area 51 needed for the presentation -------------------------------------------------- 7:10am arrived at Area 51 with JANET82 12:55pm departed Area 51 with JANET82
--- Details by aircraft involved ---
TITAN29, hex ADFEB4, reg 73-1677: USAF "Nightwatch" E-4B (Boeing 747-200B), Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP) for the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) program. Serves as a survivable mobile command post for POTUS and SECDEF. 7:20am arrived at Nellis AFB from Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore Departure from Nellis AFB unknown, likely back to Andrews AFB, Washington DC with SAM699 under their tracking SECDEF Pete Hegseth, after attending the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on 5/30/25
SAM699, hex AE11F6, reg 01-0041: USAF C-40C (Boeing 737-700), 1st Airlift Squadron, VVIP transport, "Special Air Mission" 5:50am arrived at Nellis AFB from Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore 10:34am departed Nellis AFB to Andrews AFB, Washington DC Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Caine after introductory visit to Singapore and attending the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue on 5/30/25
JANET01, hex A8B80A, reg N661BA: Executive commuter shuttle for area 51 personnel 7:51am departed Nellis AFB 8:10am arrived at Area 51 9:40am departed Area 51 10:05am arrived at Nellis AFB SECDEF Pete Hegseth
JANET09, hex ADCE1A, reg N989RR: Executive commuter shuttle for area 51 personnel 7:42am departed Nellis AFB 8:00am arrived at Area 51 9:35am departed Area 51 9:58am arrived at Nellis AFB Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Caine
JANET10, hex AC96DF, reg N910CB: Executive commuter shuttle for area 51 personnel 7:48am departed Nellis AFB 8:06am arrived at Area 51 12:00pm departed Area 51 12:25pm arrived at Nellis AFB Support and/or security personnel from DC
SPAR22, hex AE189A, reg 05-4613: USAF C-40C (Boeing 737-700), 73rd Airlift Squadron, airlift for distinguished visitors and their staff 5:30pm (Sat 5/31) arrived at Nellis AFB from Andrews AFB, Washington DC 1:30pm (Sun 6/1) departed Nellis AFB back to Andrews AFB, Washington DC Support and/or security personnel from DC
JANET82, hex ABF0FD, reg N869HH: Boeing 737-600, area 51 personnel commuter shuttle 6:56am departed Las Vegas Janet terminal 7:10am arrived at Area 51 12:55pm departed Area 51 1:19pm arrived at Las Vegas Janet terminal Personnel from Area 51 needed for the presentation
Various sources: WASHINGTON − Ukraine destroyed dozens of enemy bombers using a horde of drones smuggled deep into Russia in a stunning attack that Russian war bloggers are calling Moscow's Pearl Harbor. It was the most damaging Ukrainian attack on Russia in the three years since Moscow invaded.
More: Ukraine says it hit Russia's bridge to Crimea with underwater explosives
Ukrainian intelligence said the coordinated strikes on June 1 took a $7 billion toll on Russia's military and demolished more than a third of Moscow's strategic cruise missile carriers, including planes capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the massive attack, which he said used 117 drones, his country's "longest-range operation."
"It had an absolutely brilliant outcome," Zelenskyy said on Telegram. "Russia has had very tangible losses, and justifiably so."
Oksana Markarova, Kyiv's ambassador to the United States, called the attack a "very successful defensive operation in Russia against Russian aircraft that, on a daily basis, bomb our hospitals and schools and kill our kids."
Speaking at an AI event in Washington, Markarova said it was "the best example of how innovation can and should work in defense."
With Ukraine set to meet Russia for U.S.-brokered peace talks the next day and amid aggressive Russian advances on the battlefield, the ambitious June 1 attack showed neither side is counting on a breakthrough in negotiations.
"We hope that the response will be the same as the US response to the attack on their Pearl Harbor or even tougher," Russian war blogger Roman Alekhin wrote on Telegram, comparing the Ukrainian strike to the 1941 Japanese raid on a U.S. base in Hawaii.
“It is impossible to restore these losses,” reported Rybar, a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel.
The comparisons between the Ukrainian drone attack and the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack bandied by pro-
Russian bloggers were not historically accurate.
Japan's Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of the U.S. naval base in Hawaii, which pulled the U.S. into World War II, destroyed and damaged more than 300 American planes and killed more than 2,400 servicemembers, according to the National World War II Museum.
Ukrainian 'Spider's Web'
.
The operation, code-named "Spider's Web," was characteristic of the style of warfare Ukraine has made its brand as it attempts to undercut Russia's larger military – flooding the zone with cheap, deadly drones.
But the scope of this attack set a new precedent. The drones, strapped with explosives, were hidden inside trucks that parked at the outer edge of Russian military bases, a
Ukrainian security official told Reuters. Video shows one of the abandoned trucks self-destructing when a person went inside after the drones were launched.
The roofs then opened by remote control, unleashing the drones to swarm the military bases.
Ukraine's intelligence service said 41 Russian aircraft were hit at four air bases stretching from the Finnish border to Siberia. One targeted base, in the Irkutsk region, lies more than 2,600 miles from the front lines, making it the farthest target Ukraine has hit during the conflict.
Russia's defense ministry acknowledged in Telegram messages June 1 that drones launched "from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire."
The operation came a day after Russia launched a massive overnight attack on Ukraine using 472 drones and seven missiles, according to Ukraine's air force – the most drones launched in one operation throughout the conflict.
Separately on June 1, Ukraine struck two highway bridges in Russian regions close to its borders, killing seven people and injuring 69. One bridge collapsed on a train carrying nearly 400 passengers to Moscow, according to Russian investigators.
Three of the missiles and 372 drones were downed, the air force said.
Michael Boyle, an associate Professor at Rutgers University and author of a book on drone warfare says “There's a lot of counter-drone technology that gets rendered pretty useless against drones operating on a closed loop with fiber optic cables, and [militaries] are going to need to rethink the counter-UAS strategies to deal with fiber-optic drones, even if attacks like we saw in Russia remain rare and hard to replicate.”
Military air bases are protected with layered systems that often include radar to detect approaching threats, as well as missile systems and jamming devices designed to disorient radio-controlled drones.
The June 1 attacks rendered nearly all such defences void. In flying from short range, the drones arrived without the warning that long-range radar can provide, and in swarms likely to overcome even missile defense systems able to shoot down such small devices. In some videos made on June 1, small arms fire can be heard as Russian servicemen apparently attempt to shoot down the quadcopters.
Colonel Markus Reisner, the head of Research and Development for the Austrian Military Academy told RFE/RL the attack offers “a taste of the future of warfare.”
Reisner says since the start of the war Moscow has struck Ukraine using “long-range Tu-22, Tu-160, and Tu-95 bombers.
During these regular attacks, the heavy bombers launch their long-range cruise missiles from a safe distance and outside the range of Ukrainian air defenses. Ukraine has therefore repeatedly attempted to take out these heavy bombers and the important A-50 flying communication centers in recent years.”
Depending on which of the varying estimates of destroyed aviation destruction turns out to be accurate, Reisner believes the Ukrainian operation will “contribute to significantly reducing the intensity of Russian air strikes on Ukraine.”
Colonel Markus Reisner, the head of Research and Development for the Austrian Military Academy told RFE/RL the attack offers “a taste of the future of warfare.”
Following
Ukraine’s stunning attack over the weekend that used small drones to target and destroy Russia’s strategic bombing aircraft, the U.S. Army is applying big picture observations to its ongoing force transformation.
For starters, leaders believe it is a validation of some of the radical change the service is seeking in how to procure and manage capabilities differently in the future.
“Yesterday was a really good example of just how quickly technology is changing the battlefield. We’ve seen this over the last couple of years that everybody talks about [Program Objective Memorandum] cycles and everybody talks about program of record. I think that’s just old thinking,” Gen. Randy George, chief of staff of the Army, said Monday during the Exchange, an AI conference hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project.
POM cycles refer to the five-year planning process for programs and capabilities in the Pentagon.
George noted that technology is changing too rapidly on the modern battlefield to be wedded to these large procurement programs that historically have taken years to develop and once fielded, can be largely obsolete.
He wants to shrink the timeline it takes to develop systems and get them in the hands of soldiers, especially given much of these capabilities, such as drones, communications gear and electronic warfare tools, are increasingly available on the commercial market.
“What we got to do is make sure that we’re aligned and that’s what we’re trying to do, changing the processes up here to make sure that we’re getting them the equipment, the war-winning capabilities that they know they need,” he said. “We’re going to have to be more agile. Drones are going to constantly change. We’re going to be trying to play the cat-and-mouse game with counter-UAS, so we’re going to have to work through that to make sure that we’re buying systems. We’re going to need a lot more agility in how we buy things.”
The Army has been experimenting with this approach through what it calls transforming-in-contact, which aims to speed up how the service buys technologies and designs its forces by injecting emerging capabilities into units and letting them experiment with them during exercises and deployments.
George said one of the Army’s units that just went to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana — which provides the most realistic combat scenarios the Army can create for units to train where forces simulate a battle campaign against an active enemy — had close to 400 drones in it. That is substantially higher than the number of drones other formations have had recently, with 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division possessing over 200 during a January rotation in Europe, previously the most to date.
he Army doesn’t want to field the same systems like that for years because the technology changes so rapidly.
“We’re constantly updating those. I think that that’s how we have to be focused moving forward,” George said.
He also noted that Ukraine’s drone attack over the weekend flips the cost curve.
Kyiv used relatively cheap systems to destroy millions to billions of dollars worth of Russian combat power.
“Look at how cheap those systems were compared to what they took out. We have to be thinking about that [with] everything we’re doing,” George said.
The attack, furthermore, exemplified how transparent battlefields are becoming, meaning there is nowhere to hide.
